Revisiting Balance-of-Payments Constrained Growth 70 Years After Ecalc’s Manifesto: The Case of South America

Abstract

<jats:p>ABSTRACT In the period 2014-2018, South American economies experienced a low growth rate in a historical perspective and compared with other developing regions. The paper discusses the structural sources of recent macroeconomic performance in these countries, associated with their specialization on natural resources, inspired by Raúl Prebisch 1949 “Manifesto”. It also poses that the increasing dependence on external borrowing as in the 2014-2018 period derived from the deepening of current account deficits could worsen growth constraints in the coming years, insofar as these financial flows do not contribute to a change in the productive structure, shifting the focus from export weakness to debt sustainability issues.</jats:p>